Charles Cist (15 August 1738, in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia – 2 December 1805, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

) was an American

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

Biography

His birth surname was Thiel. He graduated from

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

with a medical degree. He decided to emigrate to the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

in 1769, at which time he adopted the surname Cist, the initials of his birth name. He settled in Philadelphia in 1773 and learned printing. With Melchior Steiner, he established a printing and publishing business. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, they published many documents relating to current events, including

Paine Paine may refer to: Geography * Paine, Chile *Paine College, a defunct Historically Black college in Augusta, Georgia *Paine Field, an airport in Everett, Washington, United States *Paine Lake, a lake in Minnesota * Paine River, a waterstream loca ...

's ''

The American Crisis ''The American Crisis'', or simply ''The Crisis'', is a pamphlet series by eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosopher and author Thomas Paine, originally published from 1776 to 1783 during the American Revolution. Thirteen numbered pamphlets w ...

''. In 1781 the firm was dissolved, and Cist continued in business alone. Cist began the publication of ''The American Herald'' in 1784, and of the ''

Columbian Magazine The ''Columbian Magazine'', also known as the ''Columbian Magazine or Monthly Miscellany'', was a monthly American literary magazine established by Mathew Carey, Charles Cist, William Spotswood, Thomas Seddon, and James Trenchard. It was publish ...

'' in 1786. Cist aided the colonial government during the revolution by endorsing large amounts of continental currency, which he was later compelled to redeem. He was the first person to introduce anthracite coal into general use in the United States. In 1792 he was a member of the Lehigh Coal Company, and brought several wagons full of this coal to Philadelphia, where he offered to give it away. But he could not dispose of it, and was threatened with mob violence for trying to impose on the people with a lot of black stones for coal. In 1793 he was secretary of the Fame Fire Association, and announced that the society had procured a fire-escape apparatus to save persons from burning houses by means of a bucket drawn up to the top of the building. During the administration of

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

, he became public printer, and established an extensive printing office and book bindery in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, at great expense, for the purpose of publishing public documents.

Family

In 1781, he married Mary Weiss. Their son, also named Charles Cist, became a noted editor. Their other son Jacob Cist settled in

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

and became key figure in the early development of Pennsylvania's anthracite industry.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cist, Charles 1738 births 1805 deaths Immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies American printers 18th-century American businesspeople American male journalists University of Halle alumni Businesspeople from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania Journalists from Pennsylvania Expatriates from the Russian Empire in Germany